In perhaps his most dominant display yet at Wimbledon this year, Rafael Nadal displayed more signs that he is peaking at the right time to further elevate what has been an astonishing 2022.
Novak Djokovic, who has already demoralised his opponents with consistently clean, ruthless tennis at these Championships, remains the man to beat. But the Spaniard continues to polish his game and close the gap, rediscovering an immaculate touch and judgement went bolting from the baseline in what is his first time back in SW19 for three years.
Naturally there was rust as Francisco Cerundolo and Ričardas Berankis each stole a set in the first two rounds, but if a more ruthless side to Nadal came out against Lorenzo Sonego, then Botic van de Zandschulp felt the full force on Centre Court over almost two and a half hours. Bludgeoned ground strokes, deadly-accurate passes and delicate volleys; it was all on display on Monday evening.
There was barely a glimmer of hope across two breathless sets, as Nadal expertly capitalised on each mistake made by Van de Zandschulp. But even when the 21st seed gained a foothold in the match, earning a surprise break to open the third, Nadal soon extinguished any hope.
His backhands seem heavier than ever on this surface and the 36-year-old produced a colossal forehand, with the kind of spin and dip associated with his clay-court game, to immediately break back.
Nadal’s peak will always be on clay, but there is something quite mesmerising about the balance and variety he discovers in full flow on grass. A key break arrived at 3-2 in the third, reaching deep to scoop a backhand cross court and past a despairing Van de Zandschulp. Three trademark fist pumps displayed just what Nadal thought of the point.
While this was a commanding display, it was not faultless, with Van de Zandschulp breaking the Spaniard as he attempted to serve the match out.
Nadal even applauded Van de Zandschulp’s late rally en route to levelling at five games apiece after an exquisite drop shot left him tumbling beyond his chair. The 26-year-old produced a bullet of a backhand to draw level in the set and stood firm to force a tie-break.
First, Nadal’s backhand fizzed past Van de Zandschulp for the first mini-break and he added another when the Dutchman blinked first during a gripping rally. But Van de Zandschulp’s resistance was not broken yet, saving three match points with two sublime winners before a heavy Nadal forehand sailed long. But the wait for victory No 31 this year didn’t wait much longer as Van de Zandschulp mistimed a smash to leave Nadal leaping for joy.
Nadal is now three wins away from completing the third leg of what would be a monumental Calendar Slam. There is a possible meeting with Nick Kyrgios in the semi-finals and the Australian claimed earlier to have alerted the tour’s youngsters that the Spaniard is “human” and can be “hurt” during his 2014 win as a 19-year-old. But next is Taylor Fritz, who will be confident after condemning the 22-time Grand Slam winner to his first defeat of the year back at Indian Wells.
But with momentum growing, Nadal appears to be timing his run just right on the grass.
